Greene County, Pennsylvania Archives Project
Behind every good ghost story is the real story. Local and family history reveal the truths hidden in a haunting tale. Whether or not the separation of fact from folklore make the Martin family mausoleum less spooky, however, is up to each visitor to decide.
In the fall of 1894, a 20-year-old transfer student arrived on the Waynesburg College campus bringing with him a passion for a new pastime. He raised the $5.25 to buy a football and then began to recruit his classmates. The real challenge came when it was time to convince Alfred Brashear Miller, much respected President of Waynesburg College, to permit an official team to form.
Jesse Lazear may not be in your family tree, but he may be in your family album! Local celebrities have a way of stumping genealogists who are trying to make sense of their ancestor’s archives. Often unidentified, or worse misidentified, these folks who your great-greats enjoyed and admired were proudly added to the family photo collection. Learn from the example of Jesse Lazear to spot these popular locals hiding among the relatives in your family photos.
We hope you have visited our site (www.GreeneConnections.com) and found your ancestor looking back at you, or seen what your house or street looked like a century ago, or read a handwritten letter your relative sent home from France during World War I. The possibility of such discoveries increases daily as the project continues to grow!
The Waynesburg Republican newspaper was a champion of Women’s Suffrage and celebrated the victory of the 19th amendment. Their feature article following election day in November 1920 gives us insight into the first female voters to line up at the polls in Greene County, Pennsylvania.
ON THIS VERY DAY 100 YEARS AGO, May 21, 1919, the House of Representatives in Washington DC passed the 19th Amendment. Greene County women and men were a part of the fight.
The caption on the photograph read, “Car in which Simon Wesley Rinehart was killed.” It was clearly going to be a research path that would lead to tragedy. Moved by this haunting image, what follows is a glimpse into the events of late 1912, remembering the lives that are memorialized by this simple picture of an automobile with a foreboding inscription.
Henry Clay Snyder and his wife, Hannah (McVay) Snyder, appear in the 1880 Census of Aleppo Township, Greene County, Pennsylvania. Their preserved entry reveals some of the few known details surrounding the lives and deaths of Hannah and her child just days after his visit.
On August 2, 1862, Joseph Throckmorton Sr., age 77, sat down to write a letter to his second wife, Laura (Peck) (Gilbert) Throckmorton, age 63. Laura was at home on their farm in Morrow County, Ohio, to which the envelope is addressed, while Joseph was visiting his family in Waynesburg, Greene County, Pennsylvania, from where the letter was written.
When we add ancestors to our tree the first blank we fill is their NAME. But do we make the most of this essential fact? Do we extract from it every clue and revelation about our family’s history? This is the tale of two Lucys and what the name reveals about one family’s story.